Refrigerator cabinet having ice-cream can support means



Sept. 27, 1949. H. w. CUSTER REFRIGERATOR CABINET HAVING ICE-CREAM CAN SUPPORT MEANS Filed Oct. 13. 194.4

Patented Sept. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR CABINET HAVING ICE-CREAM CAN S UPPORT MEANS Harry W. Custer, Center Line, Mich.

Application October 13, 1944, Serial No. 558,510

. lvClaim. 1

This invention relates to ice cream cabinet and has for one of its objects the production of a simple and efiicient cabinet having a downwardly inclined or angular well within which the ice cream can may rest' so that the contents of the can will be easily accessible and the ice cream maybe easily removed from the can without requiring' the attendant to dip into the canwith a direct downward motion.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple and efiicient ice cream cabinet or other freezing or cooling unit having an angularly extending well inclined in a downward direction at its inner end and means for supporting a can within the well.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of the cabinet;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the cabinet;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the cabinet and through one of the inclined wells;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the can-supporting rack;

Figure 5 is a front elevational View of the cansupporting rack;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view through the rack looking toward the rear end thereof; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the rack illustrating the rear end of the rack and the manner in which the can abuts the inner end of the rack.

By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that In designates the cabinet which may be of suitable design but which is preferably provided with a front wall which is inclined from the central front portion toward the top as indicated at H, and is inclined from the central front portion toward the bottom, as indicated at l2. A suitable freezing unit l3 indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, is preferably mounted in the bottom of the cabinet I [J and an angular freezing well I4 is carried by the top of the cabinet, the freezing well It being inclined downwardly from the front opening l5 toward the rear end It, as shown in detail in Figure 3. A suitable closure cover l? is hingedly secured to the cabinet Ill above each well l4 to provide an efficient sealing closure as is usual with ice cream cabinets and other freezing units.

It should be understood that any suitable numher of wells may be employed or mounted within the cabinet i0 and these wells may be arranged in any suitable or desired manner without departing from the spirit of the invention. The improved feature of the invention, however, is the fact that the well hi is an angular well at an incline downwardly from the entrance opening in the upper front portion of the cabinet and extends downwardly toward the rear and lower portion of the cabinet, as shown in Figure 3.

As shown in Figures 4 to 7 inclusive, I employ a special rack which is preferably formed of a strand of suitable material such as wire, steel bar material, and the like, and this rack comprises a pair of parallel side members l8, which side members l8 terminate at their forward ends in a downwardly extending right-angularly arranged U-shaped loop Ill. The opposite or rear ends of the side members l8 terminate in upwardly extending members 20, the upper ends of whichare formed into forwardly bowed loop portions 2| projecting forwardly of the upwardly extending members 20. These loops extend parallel to the side members 18 and the extremities of the loop portions 2! are bent downwardly to form a depending U-shaped loop 22. These loop portions I9 and 22 support the parallel side members I8 above the bottom face 23 of the angular well M, as shown in Figures 3 and 7 when the rack is mounted in position.

The ice cream can 24 is placed longitudinally of the rack in the position shown in dotted lines in Figures 3 to 6 inclusive, and in full lines in Figure '7. The can '24 lies or rests upon the parallel side members I 8 and a portion of the can which is of a cylindrical formation will lie down between the parallel side members is in the manner shown in Figure 6, thereby holding the can against lateral displacement within the well It and the rear end 25 of the can 24 will abut against the forwardly bowed loop portions 2! and will be supported against a minimum resistance or contact surface at its rear end. Because of the particular construction of the rack, it will be noted that the can will be supported in a manner whereby a minimum contact surface is in engagement with the can thereby facilitating the removal or detachment of the can from the rack with a minimum effort in view of the fact that a minimum contact surface is provided upon the rack which would be likely to freeze solidly to the can or container.

The rack above described may be made of steel bar material of a suitable strength to support the cans 2d which rest thereon. Furthermore, the present structure is adaptable for use in cabinets of any type, such as freezing, cooling, or other units, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It should be understood that various types of containers might be employed for various arrangements upon the wells, and the wells may be arranged as shown in Figure 2, or may be arranged in staggered relation as is common in such types of cabinets without departing from the spirit of the invention. The cabinet may be so constructed as to support a plurality of wells in any selected arrangement so long as these wells are angularly mounted to incline downwardly and inwardly of the cabinet from the outer open end of the cabinet.

Certain detail changes in the construction may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention so long as such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what I claim is:

In combination with a refrigerating cabinet having an angular well inclined downwardly toward its inner end and having an inner end wall, top wall, bottom wall and side walls, a removable rack having rounded contacting surfaces engaging the bottom and end walls of the well, the rack REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 827,559 Oberg July 31, 1906 2,065,006 Zivanov Dec. 22, 1936 2,143,239 Foltz Jan. 10, 1939 2,189,002 Ward Jan. 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 17,909 Australia June 8, 1934 355,351 Italy Dec. 20, 19.37 

